1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an organic light-emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the damage to a substrate and/or a spacer in the processing of attaching a polarizing film to the substrate can be minimized.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid development of the information technology (IT) industry is dramatically increasing the use of display devices. Recently, there have been demands for display devices which are lightweight and thin, consume low power and provide high resolution. To meet these demands, liquid crystal displays or organic light-emitting displays using organic light-emitting characteristics are being developed.
In an organic light-emitting element, holes and electrons injected from an external source combine together in an emitting layer to form excitons as they disappear. The excitons transfer energy to fluorescent molecules of the emitting layer as they transit from an excited state to a ground state. Accordingly, the fluorescent molecules emit light, thereby forming an image.
Organic light-emitting displays are classified into top emission organic light-emitting displays and bottom emission organic light-emitting displays according to the direction of light emission. An organic light-emitting display is manufactured by putting spacers and a sealant between an upper substrate and a lower substrate, and bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate together.
To improve image characteristics, the process of attaching a polarizing film to the upper substrate and/or the lower substrate may be additionally performed after the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded together. In this process, a polarizing film is ii aligned with a side of a substrate and then attached to a surface of the substrate by pressing the polarizing film against the surface of the substrate along a predetermined direction using a pressure roller.
In this regard, since the pressure roller moves while applying pressure to the surface of the substrate, the pressure in the space between the lower substrate and the upper substrate increases along the direction in which the pressure roller moves.
After an encapsulation process, the space between the lower and upper substrates is filled with approximately 5,000 Pa of nitrogen gas. Thus, as the pressure roller moves, the nitrogen gas in the space accumulates along the direction in which the pressure roller moves, thereby significantly increasing the pressure in the space. An increase in stress due to the increased internal pressure is sharper, particularly in large-sized display devices.
Ultimately, during the process of attaching the polarizing film to the substrate, the internal pressure in front of the pressure roller sharply increases to such an extent that the sealant, the upper substrate, or the lower substrate in front of the pressure roller in motion becomes unable to withstand the increased pressure and, as a result, is damaged.